Another holy soldier of Christ has passed away, Fr. James Wathen. We had the immense blessing of assisting at Masses once a month for several years before he became to ill to continue his rigorous travel schedule.
The last few years he battled lymphatic cancer, first trying holistic treatments and then going on to radiation. A few weeks ago he had an allergic reaction to one of the treatments after it was found that he had some new tumors. Fr. James Francis Wathen died of kidney failure at 4:55 Tuesday morning, November 7, 2006 in Evansville, Indiana at St. Mary's Hospital after losing
consciousness for three hours. The day before - November 6th - he celebrated his 74th birthday. With him were his brother John, other family members, Sister Dymphna and friends from St. Paul's Chapel. He died peacefully in a happy death as he had prayed to St. Joseph for.
Father Wathen was one of the rare Catholic priests in the United States who never said the Novus Ordo Missae. He was born and raised in Owensboro,Kentucky, the fifth of ten children. He studied philosophy at St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, MD and theology at St. Maur's Seminary in South Union, Kentucky, where he graduated in 1958.
Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine.
Et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace. Amen.
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